JUNGLE NIGHT 287 



plete ; the sahib had had opportunity to shoot ; he 

 had not done so; what did the sahib wish to do 

 now — to squat longer or to go on? 



We waited for many minutes at the edge of 

 the small glade, and the event which seemed most 

 significant to me was in actual spectacle one of 

 the last of the night's happenings. I sat with 

 chin on knees, coolie-fashion — a position which, 

 when once mastered, and with muscles trained 

 to withstand the unusual flexion for hour after 

 hour, is one of the most valuable assets of the 

 wilderness lover and the watcher of wild things. 

 It enables one to spend long periods of time in 

 the lowest of umbrella tents, or to rest on wet 

 ground or sharp stones where actual sitting down 

 would be impossible. Thus is one insulated from 

 betes rouges and enthusiastic ants whose sole 

 motto is eternal preparedness. Thus, too, one 

 slips as it were, under the visual guard of 

 human-shy creatures, whose eyes are on the 

 lookout for their enemy at human height. From 

 such a position, a single upward leap prepares 

 one instantly for advance or retreat, either of 

 which manoeuvers is well within instant neces- 

 sity at times. Then there were always the two 

 positions to which one could change if occasion 



